What are the origins and customs of the Dragon Boat Festival?
Dragon Boat Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and one of the most grand festivals so far.It is celebrated on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month every year.At the earliest, the Dragon Boat Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena.It has been passed down to the present with many customs of racing dragon boats, eating rice dumplings, drinking realgar wine, and wearing colorful ropes.
Introduction to the Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival, also known as Duanyang Festival, Dragon Boat Festival, Chongwu Festival, Dragon Festival, Zhengyang Festival, Tianzhong Festival, etc.It evolved from the dragon sacrifice in ancient times.On the Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, Canglong Qisu flew to the south of Zhongtian, which is an auspicious day for Long Feitian, that is, as the fifth line of "Book of Changes Qian Gua" said:"Flying dragon is in the sky".The Dragon Star on the Dragon Boat Festival is both "in the middle" and "in the right", which is a sign of great auspiciousness.Its origin covers ancient astrological culture, humanistic philosophy and other aspects, and contains profound and rich cultural connotations; in the inheritance and development, it is mixed with a variety of folk customs, and the content of festival customs is rich.Picking up dragon boats and eating rice dumplings are the two major customs of the Dragon Boat Festival.These two customs have been passed down in China since ancient times and have not stopped until now.
The origin of the Dragon Boat Festival
The Dragon Boat Festival originated from the worship of celestial phenomena and evolved from the dragon totem sacrifice in ancient times.The formation of the Dragon Boat Festival rituals and customs is related to primitive beliefs, sacrificial culture, stem and branch calendars, and the celestial phenomenon that Canglong Qisu is located in Nanzhong.The astrology culture in ancient China has a long history and is profound and profound.The ancients began to explore the mysteries of the universe very early, and thus deduced a complete and profound culture of stargazing.According to "The History of the Spring and Autumn Period":"The opening of the heaven and the earth, all things are muddy, ignorant and ignorant; based on yin and yang, the celestial body begins in the fields of the North Pole...The sun and the moon rotate in five latitudes; the emperor emerges...The image of the sky is fixed, and the law and the earth are formed.The ceremonies are used as stems and branches to determine the sun and the month." In ancient times, people set the sky and the law, and according to the trajectory and position of the sun, moon and stars, the area near the ecliptic and the equator was divided into 28 groups of constellations, commonly known as "twenty-eight constellations".It is divided into seven constellations according to the four directions of the south, south, and northwest, which are the "four signs"; in the east, "Jiao, Kang, Di, Fang, Xin, Wei, Ji" form a complete dragon-shaped astrology, that is, the Canglong seven constellations.The appearance cycle of Canglong Qisu is consistent with the four-season cycle of the year.It rises in the east in spring, rises in the south in summer, retreats in the west in autumn, and disappears under the northern horizon in winter.On the Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival, Canglong Qisu hangs high in the middle of the sky in the south.
The time of the Dragon Boat Festival
The ancient method of the era of the stems and branches, using the heavenly stems and earthly branches as the carrier, the epochs are commonly used.The first Dragon Boat Festival is the noon moon and noon day of the Ganzhi calendar, the first month is Jianyin, the fifth month is the noon moon, and the noon moon noon day is called the Chongwu.In the Han Dynasty, due to the unification of the North and the South and the change of the calendar, the imperial court, in order to facilitate the festival, stipulated that the annual Dragon Boat Festival should be changed to the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar.Until today, the Dragon Boat Festival is on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month.For example, the Dragon Boat Festival in 2021 is on June 14th in the Gregorian calendar.
Customs of the Dragon Boat Festival
Dragon Boat Festival is a folk festival that integrates praying and warding off evil spirits, celebrating entertainment and eating.Worship dragon ancestors, pray for good luck, and ward off evil spirits.The customs mainly include dragon boat racing, dragon sacrifice, herbal medicine collection, hanging mugwort, noon drinking water, herbal washing water, worshiping gods and ancestors, immersing in dragon boat water, eating dragon boat rice, eating zongzi, putting paper dragons, putting paper kites, and tying five-color silk threads., wear sachets, etc.Dragon boat picking activities are very popular in the coastal areas of southern China.After it was spread abroad, it was deeply loved by people from all over the world and formed an international competition.The custom of eating rice dumplings on the Dragon Boat Festival has been prevalent in all parts of China since ancient times, and has become one of the most influential and wide-ranging folk eating customs of the Chinese nation.
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